The incident occurred after the MRO made an unscheduled switch
from its main computer to a backup system, an occurrence that
officials still don’t have an explanation for. As a result, the
satellite was sidelined and operations were suspended while
scientists worked out a solution.

Specifically, the MRO has been sending data back to Earth
regarding seasonal and atmospheric changes on Mars since its
arrival in the planet’s orbit in 2006. It also relays information
from the two rovers currently exploring the Red Planet, though
data from those vehicles is still being sent to NASA via a second
satellite, the 2001-era Odyssey.

Despite the problem, MRO project manager Dan Johnston said the
incident is not too serious and that the satellite should be back
to normal shortly.

"The spacecraft is healthy, in communication and fully
powered," Johnston said in a statement from NASA's Jet
Propulsion Laboratory in California, according to Space.com.
"We have stepped up the communication data rate, and we plan
to have the spacecraft back to full operations within a few
days."

The MRO has managed to survive eight years in Martian orbit, much
longer than the two-year shelf life it was originally expected to
have. According to NASA, it has gathered more data than all other
interplanetary missions combined. That kind of longevity hasn’t
come without its share of problems, however, since the satellite
has been forced into safe mode a total of five times now, the
most recent being in November 2011.

As noted by the Los Angeles Times, problems with the Odyssey and
MRO are especially troublesome since scientists would not be able
to receive findings from the two Mars rovers without them. The
newspaper also stated that a third spacecraft – the Mars
Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution mission (MAVEN) – is expected
to arrive in the planet’s orbit in September. Maven will serve as
a backup to the two other relays even as it undergoes its own
mission: to learn why the Red Planet’s previously thick, more
Earth-like atmosphere disappeared.